By Andrei Skvarsky. Fitch Ratings has given Australia’s five largest banks rating upgrades in assessing their capacity to keep their senior creditors protected if the lenders defaulted on their debt. The long-term issuer default rating (IDR) was raised by one notch for each of the five banks – to A+ for Macquarie Bank and to… Continue Reading
Category Archives: News
Dubai gets nearly $10bn as FDI in 2023
By Andrei Skvarsky. Dubai received $9.77bn in 2023 as foreign direct investment (FDI), the emirate’s Department of Economy and Tourism said. The United States was the source of the largest single proportion – one-fifth – of the amount. British investments made up the second-biggest share, about 9 per cent. India was third with an input of… Continue Reading
Macquarie launches active large-growth ETF on NYSE Arca
By Andrei Skvarsky. Macquarie, a global financial services group, has launched an active large-growth exchange-traded fund (ETF), which began trading on the NYSE Arca exchange in New York on May 15. The Macquarie Focused Large Growth ETF (LRGG ETF) is the fourth active ETF of Macquarie Asset Management, a division of the Sydney-headquartered group. The… Continue Reading
Prop trader The Trading Pit reports two senior departures
By Andrei Skvarsky. Liechtenstein-based financial boutique The Trading Pit, which is part of Estonian private equity fintech Pinorena Capital and specialises in proprietary trading (investing its own capital rather that living off client commissions or fees), has announced top-tier staff departures. Thomas Heyden has resigned as chief executive of The Trading Pit’s Liechtenstein division and… Continue Reading
Janus Henderson buying out Europe-focused ETF provider Tabula
By Andrei Skvarsky. Global asset manager Janus Henderson will acquire Europe-focused exchange-traded fund (ETF) provider Tabula Investment Management, the two companies have announced. Tabula’s arm Tabula Capital is not part of the buyout and will remain a separate entity, Tabula and Janus Henderson said in a joint statement. Janus Henderson expects that, owing to the… Continue Reading
AI-powered investment fund launched by UK’s Sanctum
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sanctum, an investment company headquartered in London, has launched an artificial intelligence-powered investment fund. The Financial Science Holdings Limited (FSHL) fund, which is based in Britain’s dependency of Guernsey, uses an algorithmic engine to select undervalued but potentially profitable securities by going through a wide range of data, Guernsey Finance, a British… Continue Reading
Permira fund to acquire majority stake in anti-fraud firm BioCatch
By Andrei Skvarsky. One of the funds of global private equity firm Permira has pledged to acquire a majority stake in BioCatch, an Israeli digital fraud and money laundering detection company credited with having saved banks and bank customers from losses exceeding $3.5bn. The size of the stake has not been disclosed. The bulk of… Continue Reading
Standard Chartered joins Visa payment shortcuts network
By Andrei Skvarsky. Standard Chartered has joined Visa B2B Connect, a cross-border payments network for businesses that the Visa corporation, which runs the system, says can cut settlement times to one or two days from “potentially weeks”. So far Standard Chartered Singapore is the only division of the London-based bank to have joined Visa B2B… Continue Reading
Sub-Saharan Africa home to 75 pct of world’s mobile payment app accounts – GSMA
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to almost three-quarters of the world’s mobile payment application accounts, the GSMA, a global association of mobile operators and mobile-related businesses said. Between 2013 and 2022, payments via mobile apps brought about an increase of more than $150bn or 3.7 per cent in Sub-Saharan Africa’s combined gross domestic… Continue Reading
Standard Chartered unit makes ‘strategic’ investment in sharia-compliant fintech
By Andrei Skvarsky. Multinational bank Standard Chartered’s innovation-focused investment unit SC Ventures has made what it called a “strategic” investment in British sharia-compliant financial technology company Algbra. Statements from SC Ventures and Algbra that announced the investment did not provide any details or disclose the terms of the deal. But both statements quoted Algbra chief… Continue Reading
IBKR brokerage to open office in Dubai
By Andrei Skvarsky. U.S.-based electronic financial brokerage Interactive Brokers (IBKR) is planning to open an office in Dubai in a bid to expand its global network to the Middle East, Abu Dhabi-based English-language daily The National said, citing an IBKR spokesperson. The National also quoted an independent source as saying, with reference to an email… Continue Reading
Saudi banks’ net foreign assets at $15.84bn by February – central bank
By Andrei Skvarsky. The net foreign assets of Saudi Arabia’s commercial banks stood at 59.41bn riyals ($15.84bn) by February 2024, a Saudi newspaper said on April 11, citing the country’s central bank (SAMA). The Saudi banks’ gross foreign assets grew 22 per cent year on year by February, reaching $92.7bn, but their foreign liabilities rocketed… Continue Reading
Key global banks among arrangers of $1.16bn Africa loan
By Andrei Skvarsky. Société Générale, Standard Chartered and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporaton (SMBC) were among banks that have arranged a $1.16bn syndicated loan for Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) in a United Arab Emirates project aiming to give a boost to African economies. The total amount to be raised was initially set at $1bn but was… Continue Reading
Uzum becomes Uzbekistan’s first tech start-up valued at over $1bn
By Andrei Skvarsky. Uzum, an Uzbek provider of digital services including e-commerce and online banking, has become Uzbekistan’s first technology start-up with a value of more than $1bn through a recent round of financing. Uzum raised $114m in a combination of Series A funding, which was led by Bengaluru-based venture capital firm FinSight Ventures, and… Continue Reading
Arab Energy Fund reports highest annual income in half-century existence
By Andrei Skvarsky. The Arab Energy Fund (TAEF), an energy-focused financial services company formerly known as APICORP, has reported that in 2023 it earned what has been its highest net annual income in its half-century existence, $225m. The amount was 51 per cent up on 2022, the Riyadh-headquartered multinational company, which follows environmental, social and… Continue Reading
UAE’s United Arab Bank reports 65 pct. net profit growth for 2023
By Andrei Skvarsky. The United Arab Emirates’ United Arab Bank (UAB) has reported a net profit increase of 65 per cent for 2023. UAB’s net profit for the year was 255m dirhams ($69.52m). Its total income for 2023 was 576m dirhams ($156.84m) or 15 per cent up on 2022 and its investments portfolio grew by… Continue Reading
Dubai hosts outsourcing event for Uzbekistan
DUBAI, UAE, February 16, 2024 (IT Park, Uzbekistan) – On February 15th, the Uzbekistan Outsourcing Conference in Dubai was held with great success, organized by the Ministry of Digital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan and IT Park. The event proved to be a significant gathering, hosting over 100 leading experts and members of the… Continue Reading
Renaissance Capital foresees 1pc growth for Russian economy in ’24
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow-based investment bank Renaissance Capital forecasts 1 per cent growth for the Russian economy in 2024, relative near-term stability for the rouble and the reduction of a prohibitive key interest rate this year but argues that inflation tops Russia’s macroeconomic agenda. In 2023, Russia’s economy grew by 3.2 per cent, RenCap estimates.… Continue Reading
Gate.io-Aquanow deal to facilitate ‘access to crypto markets’
By Andrei Skvarsky. Gate.io, one of world’s top-ranking cryptocurrency exchanges, has entered into a partnership with digital assets infrastructure provider Aquanow with the aim of building up liquidity in global crypto markets in anticipation of new blockchain projects. The deal “will help increase access to crypto markets”, a statement from Aquanow quoted the company’s chief… Continue Reading
UAE plans investing in India’s renewable energy, food, healthcare sectors
By Andrei Skvarsky. India’s renewable energy, food processing and healthcare sectors are going to receive substantial investments from the United Arab Emirates, according to memorandums of understanding signed a week ago. The renewable energy investments would fund projects with a combined generation capacity of 60 gigawatts, Emirates News Agency (WAM) cited one of the memorandums,… Continue Reading
Saudi Arabia eases visa rules for investors, professionals
By Andrei Skvarsky. Saudi Arabia has eased residency application rules for foreign investors, entrepreneurs and professionals via five new eligibility-based types of visas. The five eligibility categories are investors; entrepreneurs; professionals including doctors and scientists; individuals owning real estate in Saudi Arabia; and individuals involved in cultural and sports activities, according to a statement from… Continue Reading
UAE’s Al Habtoor to take action vs Lebanon govt over alleged breaches of investment treaty
By Andrei Skvarsky. Al Habtoor Group, a United Arab Emirates conglomerate with interests ranging from real estate to publishing, has announced it planned to confront the Lebanese government in a legal “dispute” over alleged breaches by Beirut of a UAE-Lebanese investment treaty. Al Habtoor accuses Lebanon’s government and central bank of illegitimate restrictions on the… Continue Reading
Rewilding can be profitable business – UK financier
By Andrei Skvarsky. Rewilding, the practice of returning land to its natural state, can bring serious financial profits, a British financier and environmentalist argued at a conference earlier this month. A recent project to rewild marshes and forest land in Somerset was one example cited at the Sustainable Finance Week conference in Guernsey by Ben… Continue Reading
Gresham House fund raises £450m for environmental, social projects in UK
A fund run by alternative asset manager Gresham House has raised a little less than £450m ($574m) for financing environmental and social projects in Britain. The Guernsey-domiciled British Sustainable Infrastructure Fund (BSIF) II obtained the money from eight local government pension schemes and four family offices, the London-based asset manager said in a statement. Portfolio… Continue Reading
Some UAE insurance premiums up by 35 pct. since August – newspaper
By Andrei Skvarsky. About a dozen Emirati insurance companies have raised their premiums significantly since August, some of them by 35 per cent, a Dubai-based newspaper said. Since the Covid pandemic the cost of insurance in the United Arab Emirates has been going up steadily by between 15 and 20 per cent a year, but… Continue Reading
Miracle on the Chirchiq: Uzbekistan Goes All In on IT
by Anthony Deckoff. Global IT spending climbed a negligible 0.8% in 2022 – a rate that’s expected to tick up to a sturdier 5% in the current year. But it can’t hold a candle to the rapid growth now taking place in one of the world’s hottest new tech sectors. The Central Asian nation of… Continue Reading
Oman’s Bank Muscat says preliminary stats show 9-month net profit of $412.5m
By Andrei Skvarsky. Bank Muscat, Oman’s biggest lender, said preliminary unaudited statistics for the period from January to September 2023 show a net profit of 158.9m rials ($412.5m), marking a year-over-year increase of 7.1 per cent. The bank’s net interest income from conventional banking and net income from Islamic financing together amounted to 281m rials… Continue Reading
Arab Bank gets $250m bond issue listed on London Stock Exchange
By Andrei Skvarsky. Jordan’s Arab Bank, one of the Arab world’s biggest lenders, has issued bonds to a total of $250m as a private placement project and has had the issue listed on the London Stock Exchange. The additional tier 1 (AT1) securities, which offer 8 per cent interest, have attracted institutional and individual investors… Continue Reading
OMAN NEWS
Oman’s Sohar International Bank launching business in Saudi Arabia By Andrei Skvarsky. Oman’s Sohar International Bank has been given the go-ahead by the Saudi central bank to launch operations in Saudi Arabia, an Omani newspaper said. Sohar International’s branch in Riyadh will offer a comprehensive range of corporate and retail services, according to Oman Daily… Continue Reading